Here’s how area members of Congress voted on major issues in the week ending Friday, Nov. 3.

HOUSE

MEDICARE COST CONTROLS: The House voted 307-111 Thursday to abolish a panel of health experts from outside the government that was created by the Affordable Care Act to help control Medicare costs. The GOP-drafted bill (HR 849) would eliminate the 15-member Independent Payment Advisory Board, which is not yet in operation. The board is empowered to propose cuts in payments to Medicare providers if they are needed to keep per-capita Medicare costs from exceeding projections. Congress would need super-majority votes by both chambers to override the panel’s recommendations. The board is barred from actions that would ration care, change Medicare co-payment or deductible levels or raise premiums levels.

INDEPENDENT PROBE OF RUSSIAN ELECTION MEDDLING: Voting 230-193, the House on Thursday blocked a Democratic attempt to force floor debate on a bill (HR 356) now in committee that would establish an independent commission for investigating what U.S. intelligence agencies and the office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller say was Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. Had Democrats prevailed on this vote during debate on H Res 600, they would have had an opportunity to bring the bill to the floor.

A yes vote opposed floor debate on the Democratic-sponsored bill.

Voting yes: Calvert, Cook and Hunter.

Voting no: Aguilar, Torres, Ruiz and Takano.

FOREST MANAGEMENT ON PUBLIC LANDS: Voting 232-188, the House on Wednesday passed a bill (HR 2936) that would ease environmental laws to allow commercial logging to be used more extensively to prevent wildfires on Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service land. Backers said that by waiving the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act, the bill would enable timber companies to clear wider expanses of fire-damaged trees and diseased and combustible undergrowth. Foes of the bill said congressional budget cuts have depleted agency budgets for preventing and suppressing wildfires on federal land.

The bill also would exempt lawsuits challenging federal forest-management actions from the Equal Access to Justice Act. Under that law, the government is required to pay the attorneys’ fees and expenses of plaintiffs with relatively low net worth who prevail in litigation against U.S. agencies. The law has proved especially beneficial to environmental groups that successfully sue agencies over their land-management policies.

A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.

Voting yes: Calvert, Cook and Hunter.

Voting no: Aguilar, Torres, Ruiz and Takano.

MANDATORY ARBITRATION v. COURT ACCESS: Voting 189-232, the House on Wednesday refused to strip HR 2936 (above) of a pilot program under which lawsuits filed against U.S. Forest Service policies would be resolved by mandatory arbitration rather than judicial proceedings in federal court. Arbitration typically is conducted by mediators under rules that limit discovery and prohibit meaningful appeals of the final ruling, which is binding on both sides.

A yes vote was to remove mandatory arbitration from the bill.

Voting yes: Aguilar, Torres, Ruiz and Takano.

Voting no: Calvert, Cook and Hunter.

RENEWAL OF CHILDREN’S HEALTH INSURANCE: Voting 242-174, the House on Friday passed a GOP-drafted bill (HR 3922) that would extend the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) through fiscal 2022 and other health programs including Community Health Centers through fiscal 2019. The bill’s 10-year, $18 billion cost would be paid for by offsets including cuts in Affordable Care Act preventive-care outlays and increases in Medicare premiums for the top 1 percent of taxpayers. Democrats said it was wrong for the bill to weaken the ACA and Medicare in order to finance health insurance for underprivileged children.

A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.

Voting yes: Calvert, Cook and Hunter.

Voting no: Aguilar, Torres, Ruiz and Takano.

SENATE

AMY CONEY BARRETT, FEDERAL APPEALS JUDGE: Voting 55-43, the Senate on Tuesday confirmed University of Notre Dame law professor Amy Coney Barrett, 45, for a judgeship on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Republicans praised Barrett as a distinguished professor whose rulings will stay within the bounds of settled law. Democrats said she is an academic without judicial experience and criticized her conservative views on LGBT and women’s reproductive rights.

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